//------------------------------// // XI - Missions - Keywii_Cookies55 // Story: [Untitled.Uncertainty] // by GMBlackjack //------------------------------// Aura knew she was being tracked. It wasn't immediately obvious, but if these ponies had even an ounce of intelligence between them, they'd be able to detect the trail of evidence she'd been leaving. It wasn't her intention of course, but imperfections would always arise when you go about regaining your full power. Her brothers had begun their missions undoubtedly, just as she had hers, but the connection was weak, slight, just barely palpable. The barrier between them was immense, and both Power and Plague could only do so much in such short a time. She regretted being so careless as she regained her potential. No doubt the Elements she'd been learning about, the guardians of this world would find her within the week. No that wouldn't do. Not before Persuasion could find her full potential. The yellow Element, the one that she'd personally met, would relay everything that'd happened. That'd exacerbate the process. A plan needed to take form, a way to erase her tracks. 'Aura' was a ticking time bomb. Looking around the apartment she'd been given she noted several eccentricities. It seemed in need of electrical repairs in more than one place. This would work perfectly: that night she'd leave a clone of Aura in the bed, sleeping happily as fire engulfed the building. In the chaos, she'd escape and find a less conspicuous space to fit in. Too many mistakes had been made in haste, so patience and regrouping would be a virtue. For the rest of the day as Aura, however, she'd explore her new neighborhood. See the shops and learn about this world. Her connection to her brothers, faint as it was, told her that the world she was in had proven to be considerably different than the others. She couldn't fully determine what made it different, that'd happen as she regained her power. But the world she was in was in a league of its own. She put on her personified smile and walked out the door of her apartment, waving at the first pony she'd seen. He waved back, not knowing her, but being friendly. That's what this world was, friendly. Friendly, trusting, but not naive, and undoubtedly not private. Aura found it ironic that the very place she needed to control was so obsessive about each other's information. Taking not two steps beyond her locked front door she found multiple ponies on their personal devices, chatting with each other about the latest news. The meteor was, surprisingly not even on the forefront of this feed of information. What currently held her neighbor's attention was what outfit the white Element was wearing the previous week. It seemed that having every little piece of information at your hooves didn't stop ponies from focusing on things that didn't matter. All while the real threat had to remain hidden so as not to enter the inescapable spotlight. The twofold irony wasn't lost on Aura. She pulled out her own conjured device, turning on the screen and playing the part of a normal pony. At least while she was out, walking three-legged as a four-legged creature was... yet another thing she had to master. ~~~ Pinkie swiped her implant across the reader at the station. Most ponies would have to pay through the nose to travel across the system the same way she did. But being a previous bearer of Laughter had its perks. Not that she cared, after all, what was there to care about? Kindness was dead, Honesty was running, Loyalty was institutionalized, Magic was throwing herself into her work harder than ever, and Laughter was falling apart at the seams. The only one doing sort of alright was Rarity, and that's only when you avoided talking about any of her friends. The hologram running the lines of ponies greeted Pinkie, but she couldn't bring herself to smile back. She just listened for her seat assignment and then started the boarding process. With Applejack not getting involved, Pinkie was running out of options. She activated her reader and pulled up her list of possible people to help take care of Rainbow Dash. The earth pony was well aware that as the once bearer of Loyalty, Rainbow would be well taken care of by medical professionals, but that's not why Pinkie was making her rounds. Rainbow needed friends. Ponies she knew before the accident, someone to help bring her memories back. Somebody that could relax the trauma long enough for Rainbow's lucidity to come back. So Pinkie could see her friend again. It was selfish, she knew, but that spark of life was still there, buried deep down behind the layers and layers and layers of mental defenses. If Pinkie could somehow ignite some sort of... something in Rainbow. Something that would bring her back to the surface, so they could look into each other's eyes. Before she realized it, Pinkie was in her seat and hadn't registered any of the time getting there. Which included looking at her list of old friends. She crossed Applejack off and looked at the next name. "Gilda... I hope she survived..."